Fruit-dipping machine.



No. 7l|,6|2. Patented Oct. 2|, |902.

W. K. ALLEN.

FRUIT DIPPING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 25, 1901.)

3 Sheets-Sheet l.

(NoModel.)

Patented Oct. 2|, |902. w. K. ALLEN. l FRUIT DIPPING MACHINE.

(Appliaton fledIeb. 25, 1901.)

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No. 7||,6|2. Patented Oct. 2|, |902.

W.'K. ALLEN. 4

FRUIT DIPPING MACHINE.

(Application filed Feb. 25. 19m (NoModel.) 3 Sheets-Sheet 3.

f77/vengo@ Wz'inesse: l ZU 1f WM @www N 1 yy UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE.

WILLIAM K. ALLEN, OF NEWBERG, OREGON.

FRUIT-DIPPING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION'fornling part of Letters Patent No. 711,612, dated October21, 1902. Application filed February 25, 1901. Serial No. 48,848. (Nomodel.)

put it in condition so as to be successfully4 dried, the treatmentreferred to being the breaking, pricking, or puiicturing, also calledchecking, of their skins to allow a ready escape of the fruit-juicesevaporated in the drier, which'otherwise would have to exude through thestem end ofthe fruit, with the effect of retarding the drying processand in-'f terfering with the successful completion of the'same. Suchtreatment of the fruit-skins is generally accomplished by two opera-Vvtions, the one beingv achemical operation and,

consisting of immersing the fruit in a'strong solution of lye forremoving the oily outer. coating of the fruit-skin, called bloom,provided by nature to prevent the evaporation of the fruitjuices, andthe removing of which leaves the skin of the prune or plum in a porousstate ready for the drying operation; but as this lye treatment of fruitmust be applied to suit the average condition'of the mass of fruit, andas the thickness of fruitskins varies and some fruit will always befound in any lot the skins of which have not been rendered sufficientlyporous in the chemical or dippingtreatment thereof, mechanical treatmentof such fruit-skins must n be resorted to to produce punctures orbreakstherein affording an escape for the fruitjuice while evaporating. If itwere not for such contingent failure of attaining the desired resultfrom the dip of the fruit inthe lye solution, the mechanical pricking ofthe prune would afford no additional benefit, for other than aninsufficient action on the fruitskin there is no fault to be found withthe dipping operation and nothing wo'uld'remain to be done in thepreliminary treatment of the fruit to put -it in' just the requiredcondition for efficient drying and for producing an article acceptablein the market. This,

however, cannot be said of the mechanical treatment of thefruitLskins-the mere puncturing of the same-for it is necessary besidesthat the bloom of the prune and plum be removed to counteract excessiveacidity and impart to the fruit when dried the pref` erable dark color.I therefore conceived the idea that by combining the two describedtreatments the fruit could be put in its best state. `Such doubletreatment of the fruit` would, however, impose additional labor and lossof time and incidental increase of cost of Yproduction unless the twotreatments can beeected by a single manipulation of the fruit 'requiringno more time or attention than either of the treatments singly.

Should the described mechanical treatment of the fruit not be desired,my invention may also' be e'fficieutlyused as a device for thelye-solution dip alone.

To facilitate the rapidhandling of a lot'of fruit in the course of itsstated preliminary treatment, it is also desirable that the fruit belifted from the rinsing tank or trough on its tray ready for placing inthe drier without further handling. To be in this condition, the fruiton thetray before being placed in the drier must be spread out in asingle layer. To do this by hand is not only awkward and time-consuming,but besides it is injurious to the fruit to `be handled too much,because of its rather soft condition after having been dipped in the lyesolution. wFor this reason I have availed myself of the buoyant agencyof the rinsing-water to spread the fruitevenly in a single layer overthe tray and have contrived to be able to regulate the quantity of fruitin each dip in the lye solution to be approximately proportioned to socover the tray. The machine and devices whereby I attain the objectsreferred to and whereby I am ablel to handle a large quantity of fruitconveniently and successfully are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, referred to as a part of this specification, and in which-Figure 1 is a vertical section longitudinally taken from end to endthrough my machine as shown in the plan thereof in Fig. 2, the upperportion of the lye-tank a boing shown in elevation. Fig. 2 is a plan ofmachine. f Fig. 3-is a perspectiveelevation ofthereciprocatin'gtraycarrier ofthe rinsing-tank b. Fig.` 4 is a plandetail of the shaft, carrying-arms, and operatA IOO ing-lever of thedipper e. Fig. 5 is an end elevation, on a reduced scale, of thelye-tank and the furnace thereunder, the shaft 7c of the dipper beingalso shown, and the course of the heating-flues q q from furnace throughlye-tank being shown in dotted lines; and Fig. 6 is a Verticalcross-section, on a reduced scale, of

the upper portion of the reciprocating tray-` carrier so modified as tobe adapted to hold two trays instead of one. The letters designate theparts referred to in the description hereinafter given.

My invention comprises a lye-tanker and a rinsing-tank b, arranged sideby side on an elevated foundation c. A furnace or firechamber d is builtunder the lye-tank for heating the latter and keeping the lye solutiontherein at a sufficiently hot temperature. The fruit is thrown on thedipper e. The dipper comprises a rectangular frame made of a head-rail eand two sides e2. The bottom of this frame from its open or dischargeend to about the middle thereof is covered by a flat table or board e3,in the upper surface of which are driven a number of sharppricking-points or needles e4. The bottom and head of the dipping end ofthe dipper are covered with an open woven-wire fabric e5 of suitablemesh. The dipper is operatively suspended from the arms jj', rigidlyattached to a shaft k, journaled in boxes 7a2, affixed on a wooden framep, secured to the upper part of the lyetank, and from the pivoted arms nn'. To one end of the shaft k is attached an operating and balancinglever Z, from the short end of Which is hung an adjustablemeasuringweight m. The shaft 7o, armsjj', and lever Z may be made ofpipe and T-couplings, as shown in Fig. 4. The suspending devices for thedipper are so operatively arranged that the head end of the dipper maybe conveniently immersed in the lye solution and then lifted therefromand the dipper stood on an end in such position as to discharge thedipped fruit over the center of the rinsing-tank, the dipper beingoperated by means of the lever l. When the lever is not operated,thehandle thereof is held in a holder o, having two proj ecting rests o 02,the upper of which restrains the lever against the measuring-weight mand the lower serving as a support for the dipper when filled with fruitto a quantity outweighing the measuring weight. The function of suchmeasuring-weight is to indicate when there has been put into the dippera quantity of fruit proportioned to the capacity of the tray thereforprovided in the rinsingtank. As the relative weight and size of each lotof fruit are variable, the weight in the first instance can only beapproximately adjusted and must thereafter be readjusted to weigh moreor less fruit, if required, and thereafter the fruit-dipping may be eX-peditiously done. The dipped fruit on being discharged from the dipperrolls over the needle-board, and thus each piece of fruit is subjectedto two treatments for the purpose of checking or puncturing its skin,the first treatment being the chemical action of the lye and the secondthe mechanical action of the pricking-points, and a sufficientpuncturing of the fruit-skin would be fairly assured to facilitate thesuccessful drying thereof.

The furnace or fire-chamber d extends under a portion of therinsing-tank b in order that the rinsing-water may be sufciently heatedto readily wash off the lye solution coating the fruit. If therinsing-water were of much lower temperature than the lye solution, itmight have the effect of precipitatingsome of the lye on the fruit-skinif the lye solution were strong, and, besides heating the rinsingwater,would remove the nnpleasantness of having to dip ones hands in coldwaterwhile handling and lifting out a tray full of rinsed fruit.

To thoroughly rinse the fruit after its immersion in the lye solution,the same should be well agitated in the rinsing-tank. To accomplishthis, I have provided a carrier j", having an up-and-down reciprocatingmotion and operated by a treadle g by the foot.

This reciprocating tray-carrier is so constructed as to be easilyremovable from the rinsing-tank for cleaning or repair and consists of abase-frame f', to which are attached a series of vertically-arrangedspiral springs f2, supporting an upper frame f3.` The upper frame isprovided with a number of bracketsfl, a part of which help to brace theframe, and all of them provide a bearing-surface for the heads of thespiral springs to act against and also provide the supports for thefruittrays. The ends of the upper frame are left open in part, and insuch open spaces are hinged rails f5 f6. When desiring to place afruit-tray on the reciprocating carrier, the said hinged rails f5f6 arethrown back and the fruit-tray placed between the front and back rails.The hinged railsare then lifted up and lapped over the ends of thefruit-tray, securely holding the same, and at the same time such rails,together with the front and back rails of the frame, provide a rail eX-tending all around the fruit-tray, holding the fruit on the tray andpreventing the same from becoming jammed between the reciprocatingcarrier and the walls of the rinsingtank. The rail t of the upper frameof the reciprocating carrier is connected by means of a rod h with thetreadle g, such rod extending through a stuffing-boxe' in the bottom ofthe rinsing-tank. The reciprocating carrier when at rest is adapted tohold the fruittray j ust above the level of the rinsing-water. Byoperating the treadle, and therewith the reciprocating carrier, thefruit on the tray carried by the latter is thoroughly agitated in therinsing-water, and at the same time the tendency of such agitation is tospread the fruit in an even layer on the tray, which even spreading ofthe fruit may be facilitated by a careful manipulation of the treadletoward the end of each rinsing opera- IOO IIO

of the foot and of the treadle.

- ters Patent of the United States, is-

1. In a fruit-dipping machine, the combination of a rinsing-tank, afruit-tray, and a vibrating support for supporting said tray within thetank, said support comprising a frame and a series of springs; thelatter removably supporting the tray by its frame,

tion-that is,'gradually shortening the strokes l The vibrating supportby which the fruit-tray is removably supported in the rinsing-tankfacilitates the perforlnance of the three steps which are ree quired inthe treatment of the fruitdischarged on the tray from the dipper-namely,the thor- 1 ough'washing of the fruit, the spreading of the fruit evenlyover the tray, and draining the fruit again after the washing andspreading thereof have been accomplished. For the pu rv pose of suchdraining I deem it preferable that the vibrating support be adapted tonormally hold the tray above the surface of the water in the tank. Bymeasuring the fruit thrown into the dipper, as described, I can regulatethe quantity discharged on the tray to be just sufficient `to spread inan even layer thereon. When sufiicient fruitl has been thrown into thedipper to overbalance the Weight m, the lever Z drops to the positiono2.

(Indicatedindottedoutlines.) Bynowspringing the handle of theleverloutward a triiie,A so as to clear the holder 0,the dipper may beraised or tilted to an upright position and the fruit emptied out of thesame on the tray in the rinsing-tank.

In building my above-described machine the tanks may be made ofsheet-iron. The reciprocating carrier of the rinsing-tank may also bemade of sheet-iron, and' other portions of the machine may be made ofany convenient material.`

To quickly and suiiiciently heat the lye solution, the flame and heatedproducts of combustion are led through iiues q q., entering the lowerportion of the lye-tank and connecting with a common stackir.v

The reciprocating tray-carrier may be readily modiied and enlarged, asillustrated in Fig. 6, so as to be adapted t0 carrytwo trays instead ofone, the rinsing-tank being correspondingly enlarged. All that isrequired to be done is to provide laterally extending grooves s in thecenter rail t', in which to insert one of the sides of a tray. Thegrooves s may be easily made by rabbeting the ltwo sides of the rail tand securing a slat on the top thereof. The two trays are arranged sideby side lengthwise between the sides f3 of the reciprocating carrierinstead of crosswise, asV in case the rinsing-tank is intended for a single tray only, and when the machine is to be modified to carry two traysthe discharge end of the dipper should be provided withguiderailsu,(indicatedin broken outline in Fig. 2,) so as to divide thefruit beingdischarged into two portions and drop each portion about overthe center of the respective trays.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letand adapting the same to bevertically reciprocated in the tank' forthe purpose specified,substantially as described.

2. In `a fruit-dipping machine, the combiand'a vibrating supporttherefor, comprising a frame and a series of springs; said vibratingsupport removably holding the :tray in the tank above the surface of thewater therein contained, and being adapted to allowsaid tray to bevertically reciprocated in the tank for the purpose specified means forsecuring the said removable tray on its said vibrating support; andmeans for vibratingtne said support, substantially as described.

A fruit-dipping machine, comprising in combination, a lye-tank and arinsing-tank" arranged side by side; means for heating the said tanks;asuitable fruit-dipperoperatively suspended-in arms journaled in themouth of the lye-tank and adapted to discharge the fruit from the dipperover the rinsing-tank,`

the bottom of the discharge end of the dipper being provided withnumerous prickingpoints; means for operating the dipper to dip the fruittherein deposited and discharge the same again; avertically-reciprocating tray-v carrier in the rinsing-tank adapted tohold a fruit-tray, and means for operating such traycarrier,substantially as described.

4. In a fruit-dipping machine, the combination with the lye-tank and thedipper operati vely suspended in the mouth of the same, of arinsing-tank, a removable vibrating traycarrier therein, comprising abase frame,

springs supported thereon; a tray-holding frame seated on said spring;and atreadle connected with the said tray-holding frame, and adapted tooperate the same, substantially as described.

5. In a fruit-dipping machine, the combination with th'e lye-tank, andthe dipper operatively suspended in the mou th of the same;

and. upper frame, f3, having dropping ends,

adapted, when raised, to clamp the fruit-tray,

4and'secure the same in place; springs supporting the upperframe overthe lower frame;

.a treadle, and a connection therefrom to said upper frame to operatethe same, substantially'as described.

7. In a fruit-dipping machine, the combination with the lye-tank, andthe dipper operatively suspended in the mouth of the same;

of a rinsing-tank; a removable vibrating tray- 'nation of arinsing-tank, a removable tray, v

IOO

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carrier therein comprising a lower frame,f, upper frame,f3, havingdropping ends adapted when raised to clamp the fruit-tray and secure thesame; springs, supporting the upper frame over the lower frame; atreadle, and a rod, 7L, extending through a stuffingboX in the bottom ofthe tank, and operatively eonneeting said vibrating tray-carrier withsaid treadle, substantially as described.

8.' A fruit-dipping machine combining a lye-tank and a rinsing-tankarranged side by side; a furnace for heating the former, eX- tendingalso under and heating,r the latter; a flipper, the dipping end of whichis covered with a net-like material, and the end thereof having numerousprieking-points, said dipper being' suspended by armsj, j', rigidlyattached to a shaft, 7s, rotatably attached to the month of thelye-tank, and arms, In, 911'; an

operating-leverl; a holder as, o; a measuring- Weight adjustable on anextension of the lever, l; a removable tray-oarrierin the rinsingtank,comprisingr a lower frame, f', upper frame,f3, having dropping endsadapted when raised to clamp the fruit-tray and secure the same; springssupporting the upper frame over the lower frame; a treadle, anda rod, h,extendinn through a stniing-box in the bottom of the tank, andoperatively eonneeting said vibrating tray-carrier with said treadle,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature, in thepresence of two witnesses, this 19th day of June, 1900.

TILTJAM K. ALLEN. lVitnesses:

T. J. GEISLER, E. M. HoWATsoN.

